Joey Lucchesi is willing to pitch out of bullpen for Mets
Mets pitcher Joey Lucchesi stretches during spring training on Monday in Port St. Lucie, Fla. Credit: AP/Jeff Roberson
PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. — Twenty months removed from Tommy John surgery, lefthander Joey Lucchesi is healthy and eager to be back in the majors — so much so, he said, that he expressed to Mets decision-makers a willingness to be a reliever if it means making the roster.
He mostly has been a starter across four major-league seasons and the Mets might keep him in that role in Triple-A. “I want to break [camp] with the team,” he said. “That would be sick.”
Historically mostly a two-pitch pitcher, with a sinker and his signature churve, Lucchesi said he developed two new pitches during his lengthy recovery. He declined to specify what they are, but he’ll get a chance to test them Friday when he tosses two innings in an intrasquad scrimmage at Clover Park.
“I can see why everybody thought well of him at one time — still do, but he’s been kind of out of sight, out of mind,” Buck Showalter said. “I’m hoping tomorrow is the start of a lot of healthy pitching for him.”
Senga pleased
Kodai Senga’s assimilation to major-league life continued Thursday when he used PitchCom — the system that allows catchers and pitchers to electronically communicate which pitch to throw — for the first time during his two innings of live batting practice.
“It was very smooth communicating,” Senga, who faced Jeff McNeil, Starling Marte and others, said through an interpreter. “It was really easy.”
PitchCom also helped Senga adjust to the 15-second pitch clock (which would be 20 seconds with a man on base). “The first time, I felt a little rushed with the pitch clock,’’ he said. “But this time around, using the PitchCom, it made everything easier. A few times I felt like I might’ve been rushed, looked at the clock, but I still had 10 seconds left. So I felt pretty good with that.”
A Marte check-in
Marte faced live pitching for the first time and said he ran at about two-thirds of full speed Thursday. He is behind other position players after offseason double groin surgery but estimated he’ll get into exhibition games in about two weeks.
Extra bases
The Mets’ scrimmage at 1 p.m. Friday will be open to the public. Tickets are $10, with proceeds going to the Boys and Girls Club of St. Lucie County . . . The Mets might keep their Double-A and Triple-A players in major-league camp longer than they otherwise would, Showalter said, because they have experience with the pitch clock. “I’d like to keep those guys in camp just to have a voice that’s lived it,” he said . . . Showalter gave a shout-out to Omar De Los Santos, who had 70 stolen bases and 16 homers for low Class A St. Lucie last year. He said he hopes to bring De Los Santos to major-league camp some days . . . Unsolicited, Showalter described the physique of a nearby Francisco Alvarez: “His toes have muscles.”
Tim Healey is the Mets beat writer for Newsday. Born on Long Island and raised in Connecticut, Tim has previously worked for the South Florida Sun Sentinel, the Boston Globe and MLB.com. He is also the author of “Hometown Hardball,” a book about minor league baseball in the northeast.
